The difficulty of seeing the doctor is a useful gatekeeper to the service

If you could see a doctor with ease, then people would go and see their doctors, and the system would collapse - as it is, if you have to go out of your way to see them at your inconvenience, then it means the vast majority of the population are only going to go if they actually have i) a problem ii) an expectation you can cure them

Just see the recent closures of NHS walk-in centres as an example - they attracted too many of the two most problematic service users, the worried well (who have nothing wrong with them) and the chronically sick (who you can't cure)

Both of which cost the NHS a fortune

Now, personally, I'd suggest that a better way to keep the worried well away would be to stop running adverts that encourage people to rush to the doctors every time they've eaten beetroot thinking they've got cancer...

I'm also in total agreement with deviant, doctors and teachers are pandering to peoples spoilt sense of entitlement. There's a fine line between listening to the public ends and enabling the spoilt whining of people who think they know better.

Back to the good old days when the doctor knew best and was free to speak his or her mind (eg being able to tell people to harden up)

Fortunately for me in Spain you're legally allowed to take time off work for medical visits - obviously in practise if you abuse this right you'll soon get a black mark against you in work, but the occasional visit is completely normal and acceptable.

Somehow I doubt the current UK government will be changing the law to allow that, though!

doctors and teachers are pandering to peoples spoilt sense of entitlement. There's a fine line between listening to the public ends and enabling the spoilt whining of people who think they know better.

Everyone thinks that they're experts, teachers get it in the neck from people who think they know better, doctors get it in the neck from people who think they can out diagnose them and scientists get it in the neck from prats who think their quickly thought out diatribes render climate change science bunk or that animal testing serves no useful purpose what so ever.

I wanted to change something within human biology, so I studied and took a degree in it. I don't expect climate scientists to tell me how to do my job, if you don't like something - actually study the subject you're talking about and change it from within.

No, General Practice is definitely not just a referral service, and never really was. You are forgetting that a lot of people presenting to GP don't need referring on, and also that GPs manage a huge amount of chronic disease.

doctors and teachers are pandering to peoples spoilt sense of entitlement. There's a fine line between listening to the public ends and enabling the spoilt whining of people who think they know better.
FFS.